“Because he hasn’t got runs against New Zealand…”: Here’s what Sunil Gavaskar had to say about Virat Kohli

New Delhi: Former Indian cricket batter and legend, Sunil Gavaskar has highlighted that Australia Tour might turn out to be the “El Dorado” for Virat Kohli who has been struggling to come back to form in red ball cricket. Gavaskar also highlighted the fact that Kohli’s impressive form in Adelaide and Perth will help the right-hand batsman come back to his usual best.

Kohli’s form in recent years, especially the last year has been under immense scrutiny especially after failed in the number game. The right-hand batsman just averaged just 22.72 in his six Test matches this year. For a cricketer of the stature of Virat Kohli, this is way below his average of 54.08 in Tests in Australia and his overall career average of 47.83.

In a recent interview, Gavaskar revealed:

Because he hasn’t got runs against New Zealand, he’ll be very, very hungry. Even in that Adelaide Test match, where in the second innings we got all out for 36, in the first innings, Kohli got 70 plus, if I recall correctly, before being run out. He’s consistently performed at Adelaide, so it’s a familiar ground for him…

Kohli returns to favourite hunting ground☟☟:

Here are Kohli’s statistics from Adelaide and Perth-

Kohli in Adelaide

Kohli in Perth

He comes into his fifth Australia tour after making just 91 runs in India’s 3-0 series defeat to New Zealand at home earlier this month. But the record of Kohli in Adelaide and Perth (mentioned in the table above) gives room for Kohli to play freely without thinking about the consequences.

But, former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes that the likes of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Nathan Lyon will challenge Kohli’s flawless record in Australia. One of the major grey areas for Kohli is his clay feat outside the off-stump channel which will be exploited by the bowlers when the series begins in Perth on November 22.